Legend of Zelda (c) Nintendo
Zelda inhaled sharply. "Midna...?!"
Midna grinned. "Eee hee! You remembered my name? What an honor for me..."
The princess knelt down to study the imp and her companion. "So this is the one for whom you were searching..."
Midna shrugged. "He's not exactly what I had in mind, but... I guess he'll do."
She was alone. There was nothing to keep her company, save her thoughts and the hum of foreign magic; the dark motes of Twilight that suffocated her kingdom invaded even her high prison, reminding her of her failure.
Zelda felt, rather than saw, the arrival of the bizarre little imp, sometime about a fortnight into her captivity. That was only a rough estimate, as she had not seen the physical appearance of night, or day, in a long time. The only ways to mark the passing hours were her own erratic sleep cycles and an antique hourglass that she often forgot to turn.
When the mottled intruder detached itself from the shadows of the cold room, Zelda did not give into her first instinct, which was to lash at the interloper with the scraps of Light magic she had left. Though she (at least, it looked like a 'she') only vaguely resembled Zant and the Shadow Beasts, there was no doubt in Zelda's mind she was of the same race. However, there was a subtle shift in magic, a difference between the pressing dimness surrounding her and the half-light appearance of the imp that made Zelda stay her hand.
"How fare you Princess, in your stone tower temple?"
Zelda was silent, though her fingers twitched beneath the cloak, itching for her sword. She didn't know if this imp was friend or foe and she had few ways left to protect herself.
The imp laughed, a high bitter sound.
"Relax, Princess. I'm not here to hurt you."
The statement did not relax Zelda in the slightest and she countered with a question of her own.
"Then may I inquire as to who you are and why you are here?"
The pied imp crossed her hands behind her head and mockingly answered, "You may inquire but you really aren't in any position to go around asking questions." She turned to the only window and quipped, "Isn't the Twilight beautiful today?"
Zelda's brows furrowed. Her mind, though ever razor-sharp, had lacked a challenge as of late. Unlike the Twilight, a mindless force she could not fight against, or Zant, a faceless captor she should not fight against, here was a potential opponent who might give with a little push. Anything was better than the helplessness that threatened to swallow her daily.
She bit out a response to judge her visitor's stance.
"If you have nothing productive to say, then you may leave and tell your King Zant that a true ruler would not send others to–"
The imp whirled to face Zelda, a dark fire blazing in her eye. "I would rather wither under the light of a thousand suns than call that fiend my king!" she spat. "Count yourself lucky, Princess, that he spared you when he conquered your precious kingdom!"
Zelda felt her anger rise, a welcome change to the sadness. "Yes, and what good has it done me, being spared? I could do nothing while my castle burned and my people were reduced to shadows!" A bit of her old self returned, the part used to dealing with tiresome delegates and pampered aristocrats, and she addressed the intruder with cold dignity.
"I may not sit on the throne right now, and I wish I could be of more use to my subjects, but I am still the true reigning matriarch of Hyrule and I ask you again: who are you and what do you want?"
To her annoyance, the stranger burst into laughter. "Now now, no need to ruffle your feathers. You can call me Midna."
Zelda leveled her gaze at the floating imp. "And your reason to enter and mock my solitude?"
Midna smiled sharply. "My own. Although, I am curious about this place," she said as she drifted over to Zelda and leaned her arm on the princess's shoulder, "I'm new here. Tell me about Hyrule."
Zelda glanced at the odd creature from the corner of her eye. What did she care about the light-forsaken kingdom? What did she gain by being here? Was she here of her own accord?
A thousand questions ran through her mind as the imp yawned and looked at her with expectant eyes. 'Eye,' Zelda corrected herself; the other was covered by her odd helm. That particular article begged a dozen more questions. Crawling with symbols that hadn't been seen in Hyrule for centuries, it looked like something straight out of legend.
"Come on, you must be bored all by yourself up here. Tell me a story and I'll tell you one of mine." Midna flashed another fanged smile and Zelda sighed. At least it would pass the time.
"Very well."
Zelda recounted to Midna the story of the golden goddesses, they who shaped the land and gave it law and life. She spoke of the peoples of Hyrule, those who still walked the earth and those long forgotten, those who thrived and those who were hidden. Midna seemed only vaguely interested the histories, but she listened intently to the legends. Especially those of a boy clothed in green.
Hours later – it could have been days, she couldn't tell with no sun or moon to judge by – Zelda finished the last tale of heroism she knew.
Midna hovered above the wooden desk, looking pensive.
"This Hero," she said, "where is he now?"
Zelda was quiet. "I don't know. He only appears out of nowhere during Hyrule's darkest hour."
Midna thoughtfully tapped her cheek. "I'd say it's pretty dark for you guys right now. Should we be expecting him on the castle doorstep anytime soon?"
Zelda gave a noncommittal shrug under her heavy cloak. She did not tell Midna about the long hours she'd already spent in prayer, reaching desperately into the shadows for any spark of familiar light. Wherever he was, he hadn't awakened yet or…
She refused to dwell on the possibility that the Twilight had swallowed him and snuffed out his fire. He was stronger than that. "In the past, he has been guided by external forces onto the path of the Hero. A dream, a curse, the taking of a loved one. Once set on the path, there is no stopping him."
"Can't you just call him and tell him to get his rear in gear?"
Zelda shot Midna an irate look. "He's not a dog I can summon on command."
The imp snorted. "Tsk, sounds like a dog to me." She hopped down to the floor and began slapping her knees. "'Come're boy, go save the princess! Go on, get the bad guy! Good boy! Who's a good boy?'"
Zelda grimaced at the pantomime.
"You've made your point, Midna."
Midna straightened and rose back to the desk.
"Really though, a dog might be just what we need. You sure you don't know where he is?"
Zelda shook her head.
"The Twilight is too heavy. I don't dream anymore. I imagine if there is anyone untouched, it would be those to the far north or extreme south. I was supposed to receive a messenger from the Ordon province sometime soon…" she trailed off. If the goddesses had any love left for their people, the messenger would see the encroaching wall of Twilight and…
And what?
Turn back and retreat farther into the woods? Raise their farmers' tools against the threat?
She didn't know which she hated more: people waiting fruitlessly or people dying needlessly.
Zelda glanced at the hovering imp, who continued to mumble to herself about shadows and legends.
"Why would you help us?"
The sudden question startled her company, who blinked then sneered at Zelda.
"You? Sorry, sister, I'm not that nice. I'm looking for someone and the more I know of this land, the better. The fate of your kingdom is not my concern. I couldn't care less." She crossed her small arms and drifted over to the window.
"I'm not here to fix your mistakes," Midna continued. "You screwed up royally. A realm's fate lies in the hands of its leader. What happens to her subjects is her responsibility." Zelda turned away from the harsh words and missed the regretful expression that crossed Midna's face. The imp snapped her fingers and Zelda glanced back to her.
"Oh, that's right, I promised you a story. Where I come from, we also have a legend of a Hero, though not of your silly little boy dressed as a fae.
"Our Hero will appear as a divine beast with azure eyes, a savage foe against our enemies. He'll restore our honor and bridge the gap between the world we inhabit and the world we lost." Midna paused, her long ears twitching.
"Sorry, Princess, that's all the time we have. I've got stuff to do." A burst of magic unlatched the window, a tendril of flame-colored hair pushed it open. Midna flashed Zelda a cold smile. "Wanna come?"
"I can't. Zant…" Zelda breathed a long sigh as the imp floated outside, "as long as I am here, I know Zant won't touch my people."
Midna snorted. "What's left of them. Look Princess, if you think you can do a world of good by being locked up in a tower like a damsel in distress, be my guest. But no one tells me what to do! The last person who did… well, I'll let him live just long enough to regret it." The imp began to dissolve into tiny shards of shadow.
"See ya, Twilight Princess, hope it all works out for you."
With that, Midna turned on her heel and vanished into the sky.
A heartbeat later, the door to her prison flew open, screeching on its hinges and slamming against the wall. Zelda's features hardened when Zant strode in accompanied by two of his beastly guards.
The usurper king turned his masked head to take in the room. When his vacant gaze landed on the open window, she felt a twinge of apprehension.
"Who were you talking to, Princess?" Zant asked.
She still didn't know who Midna was, but Zelda was sure of two things.
First, judging from Midna's reaction to "King Zant," the imp was not on the tyrant's side. Second, and most importantly, an enemy's enemy was a valuable ally. Midna may not have wanted to help Zelda directly, but any ground the imp was capable of gaining against Zant was a small victory for Zelda.
Zelda chose her words carefully, her face trained to show no emotion.
"You have cut off all my communication to the outside world. How could I be talking to anyone? Unless they can walk through walls." she said lightly.
A piercing screech vibrated through the room and Zelda internally congratulated herself on not flinching.
"Don't test me, Hylian!" Zant said, "I know she was here! That traitorous little gremlin! It will be better for you if you tell me where she went!"
Zelda bit her tongue to stop retorting that there wasn't much more he could do to her. She didn't know that, didn't know what this madman was capable of. Her divine Gift kept her whole; her people were not so lucky. Right now, there was only her promise of cooperation that stopped Zant from unleashing his beasts on her kingdom.
Though she knew, she knew, there was already blood on her hands long before Zant marched into her throne room. Hostile takeovers were never without casualties. Half of her was grateful Zant offered the choice of giving in peacefully. The other half would forever rue the moment she dropped her sword.
"I don't know who you are talking about. How could anyone get up here? Your patrols would have found someone, wouldn't they?"
"Find her!" Zant hissed to his guards. They shuffled out of the room in grotesque, jerky strides.
Zelda allowed herself to take a small amount of pleasure from Zant's agitated twitching.
She didn't know what his face looked like. He hadn't removed the mask in her presence. Perhaps that was his face, twisted by dark arts. It reeked of stale power and something ancient best left buried.
'It's different,' she thought suddenly, 'Zant's magic compared to Midna's.' Both distinctly lacked the light Zelda's magic relied on, but Midna's was still warm, like a fading sunset, a dying ember. Zant's magic smothered and burned.
Zant seemed to compose himself and turned away from the robed princess.
"Don't think you can escape, Princess," Zant said, gliding to the door. "Soon all of your world will be under my power, your precious light extinguished. And know in your heart, it was entirely your fault."
The wooden door slammed shut. Both rulers knew it wasn't necessary to use the lock.
Once again, she was alone with her thoughts and strange magic.
The imprisoned princess moved to stand in front of her meager fire. It tried its best to heat the room, but the permeating Twilight seemed to drain any warmth that reached past the grate. She shivered and brought the hood over her head. Zant's words stung, but did not cut as deep as they would have before Midna's visit. The imp had sparked something in her. For the first time in her captivity, Zelda dared herself to hope. For what, she wasn't sure.
She didn't know where Midna had gone or if she'd be back. She didn't get an answer out of the imp as to what exactly she was doing in Hyrule, either. Her mysterious guest had come and gone like a shadow, leaving no trace and more questions than answers. But there was nothing to indicate Zelda had condemned Hyrule to a fate darker than eternal Twilight by replying to Midna's questions.
The light Zant threatened to erase had come close to dying before, when other tyrants seized the throne, hungry for undeserved power. Yet, here she was, heir to a line unbroken. The thought gave her courage as she turned back towards the open window.
'In any case,' Zelda thought, gazing through the lattice, 'it was nice to have a visitor.'
When WolfLink first meets Zelda, right after Midna busts him out from the dungeons, it's clear from the women's interaction that this is not their first meeting. I am very curious to know exactly what went on when they met. Alas, we are not treated to that, so here is my idea, extrapolated from about 4 lines of dialogue.
It was meant to be a flashback in a bigger story I was working on, but that story never went anywhere and I liked this scene enough to make it stand on its own.
I continue my quest to explore the more passed-over moments of the games and try to give them their own story. Onward!